It all started back in 1966 when I heard Buddy Rich for the first time on the record Swingin New Big Band. I made a decision right then and there that someday I was going to play this music! I had been listening to Louie Bellson, Gene Krupa, Sonny Payne, Jo Jones and many other great drummers but Buddy Rich just totally knocked me out and further more the guy sat in front both playing and leading the group which was something I had not seen before. Being in my 20,s at the time I decided to give it a try and started practicing 8 hours a day. I bought every Buddy Rich album I could get my hands on and just kept on listening and practicing. In addition I was playing in all sorts of bands, everything from dance music to fusion. This continued until 1987 when I started my own 10 peace soul band, that played Tower of Power covers. Right around this time I became rather disenchanted with the music scene and took a job at the post office. I worked there for years until they closed the branch where I was employed. I was suddenly laid off but with a 2-year salary in advance. These events gave me a chance to fulfil my dreams of starting my own big band. Getting musicians who were interested in this style of music was easy; finding guys who could play the music well was another thing. After various combinations of musicians failed to meet the challenge of the music, I was almost ready to give up until I decided to get someone to rehearse the band and get it to sound the way I wanted I found more and more music and after a year of hard work the band finally started to swing. As of today the band has been touring for 10 years and we now have about 100 arrangements in our book. So at last I got the band of my dreams and I think it sounds just swell. It shure as hell got that specific authentic Buddy Rich sound and what more could you ask for.
